A new disk that has never been used on a eTOS system must be
formatted and initialized before it is recognized as a valid volume. For some disks, that involves a simple procedure, because device-specific parameters and -bad spots are already stored on the disk. For other disks, however, you must supply the device template and the bad spot information to the Forrnat Disk command.
Table 11-1 lists the device template and bad spot requirements for different models of disks. If a device template or a bad spots file is required, you will need to supply that information in the [Device
template] or {Bad spot file] fields of the ForlJlat Disk command form.
See "Creating a Bad Spots File" and "Using Device Templates," later in
this section, for more detailed information.
Adding Hard Disks
11-6
Table 11-1. Device Template and Bad Spot Requirements for Disks
Disk Model initialized. See "Creating a Bad Spots File." later in this section.
The following procedure describes how to format and initialize a disk.
This procedure works for most workstation disks; it does not, however, initialize a system volume and it may not initialize the disk optimally for your purposes. For more detailed information, see "Using Parameter
Templates," later in this section.
For information about reinitializing a valid volume, see "Reinitializing a
Valid Volume," later in this section. If a disk has been corrupted, see
"Reinitializing Corrupted Volumes," later in this section.
Caution
The following procedure destroys all data on the disk.
1. If you are formatting an SRP disk, start a Cluster View session on the processor to which the disk is connected.
2. On the Executive command line, type Forlllat Disk; then press RETURN.
Adding Hard Disks
3. Fill in the command form as shown in the following example;
parameter fields are described in Table 11-2.
Forlnat Disk
Device name dl
[Device password]
#*
[Current volume password]
[New volume name] Volume1
Table 11-2. Format Disk Parameters
Field Name
Device name
[Device password)
[Current volume password]
Description
Enter the device name of the disk you want to initialize.
When formatting floppy disks. be sure to use the correct type of diskette for your drive; see the eTOS Media User's
Guide.
Default: None
Enter the device password for the disk you want to initialize.
If you are using a prebuilt eTOS operating system. device passwords for hard disks match device names. and floppy drives do not have passwords. If you are using a custom-ized operating system. however. device passwords might be different.
Default: Active password
If you are reinitializing a disk, enter the volume password currently assigned to the disk. When you are initializing a new disk, there is no volume password to enter here.
continued 11-7
Adding Hard Disks
Table 11-2. Format Disk Parameters (cont.)
Field Name
Default Current volume name
Enter a name, up to twelve characters long, to assign to the volume. It can contain letters, numerals, periods, and hyphens. The volume name of each disk within a cluster must be un ique.
Default: None
Enter a password, up to twelve characters long, to assign to the volume. It can contain letters, numerals, periods, and hyphens.
Default: See below
Enter the name of the configuration file containing the format and device templates for the disk.
[Sys]<Sys>FormatDiskConfig.sys is the default. (See
"Using. Parameter Templates," later in this section.)
Default: DiskDefault for hard disks; FloppyDefault for floppy disks
Enter the name of a format template for the disk. If you
leave this field blank, a default template is used. If a default template is not available, Formal Disk calculates default
vaJues. For more information, see "Using Format Templates." later in this section.
Default: See below
This parameter is not required when reinitializing a valid volume.
For SCSI disks and tOE drives, leave this field blank.
For unformatted non-SCSI disks (other than IDE), enter the name of the device template for the disk. For workstation disks, the template usually corresponds to the
single-character disk type labeled on the bottom on the disk drive module. If the disk type is unknown, enter the actual device characteristics in the form of Cylinders/Heads/Sectors. If you leave this field blank, Format Disk attempts to format the disk with default parameters, which may not be optimal for the disk.
continued
Adding Hard Disks
Table 11·2. Format Disk Parameters (cont.)
Field Name
To record command output in a log file, enter a file
specification in this field. The file must be created on a
valid volume; that is, you cannot write a log file to the same disk you are formatting.
Default: Ask for confirmation
If you want to reinitialize a valid volume t enter Yes. If you do not want to overwrite a valid volume, enter No. If you leave this field blank, you are prompted to confirm or can-cel the initialization procedure if the disk is a valid volume.
Default: None
Enter the file specification of a file containing bad spot information for the disk. This file is required if bad spot
information is not available on the disk or to add bad spots that have occurred since the disk was last initialized. The
bad spots file must be created on a disk other than the one you want to initialize. See Table 11-1 and "Creating a Bad Spots File," in this section.
Default: No
This field applies to volumes that are already initialized.
Enter Yes to reinitialize the disk with default values
calculated internally by the Format Disk command. If you
ent~r No or leave this field blank, the disk is reinitialized with its current parameters. This parameter does not override parameters contained in the specified format template.
Default: AU available disk space
This parameter applies to EISAlISA-bus workstations only.
Enter a size for the eTOS partition, in M bytes. If you do not plan to install MS-DOS on the workstation, leave this
field blank. See wFormatting a Partitioned Disk," later in this section, for more information about disk partitioning.
11-9
Adding Hard Disks